So what to do in a new town late afternoon. Well if your with me the botanical gardens, a park, a view and the seaside are usually high on the agenda. Good work Whanganui you had them all and some birds in an aviary all for free, our sort of town.
Not a lighthouse but still a pretty good tower. 
Whanganui is renowned for its river so we decided to drive the river road. The river was not particularly pretty, obviously carrying a lot of sediment from the day befores torrential rains. We had a good walk to take in the views and found some interesting bits and pieces. Flour mill with water wheel, the convent, lots of native bush and of course a waterfall (would be impressive from the river but we were a long way away).
We decided to head to the ‘main’ road for the return trip, turns out it was about 60ks further and just as twisty, at least there was a waterfall 😉.
Heading out of Whanganui the next day we caught a glimpse of the top of Mount Taranaki/Egmont he soon disappeared into his cloud cover for the rest of the day. We of course had a stop off or two, before driving the coast to New Plymouth. I wonder what they would be…
First stop Bason Botanic Gardens. Magnificent! Stanley Bason was a farmer who loved gardening and left his land to Whanganui. He suffered through his life with depression and sort solace in his garden. He preferred plants to people. He helped with the vision of the gardens and it really was pretty. On the entrance a quote of his rings true in these weird times.
“Through the troubles of this world there still runs a thin stream of serenity for those who seek it” Stanley Bason.
Of course another wee side trip had to include Egmont lighthouse. Quite bizarre it was a good distance from the sea.
We stopped off at Opunake to have our lunch, sandwiches and a flask of coffee. Mum your Yorkshire ways travel far ☺️. We watched a few surfers brave the cold, full suits, head gear and feet. We stayed in the car!
And so to New Plymouth, Wayne’s first ever visit. We stayed in town with easy access to well pretty much everything. Late afternoon walk along the boardwalk we did catch the mountain peeping through, it was the last we saw the top of it in 2 days.
We spent quite a while watching people foraging in the rocks for kai moana. Not sure if they collected much.
Next day we spent of course at the gardens and free zoo. Great for kids of all ages and then took the boardwalk in the other direction. Turns out we walked more than 22000 steps over 16kms so dinner out was the order of the day. Living at a beautiful golden beach, the black sand is quite different, beautiful in its own right, but I think I prefer the gold.
We decided with the weather about to change to pouring down, we would have one more day and make our way home. We took in Dawson Falls before taking the scenic route to Taumarunui then home. The drive along state highway 43 was quite an adventure. Wooden bridges, a wee tunnel and gravel just a few of its endearing features. Up and over saddles kept up the twistyness we love and a good place for our coffee stop offs, courtesy of Mr Flask.
What a great adventure. Of course we would have loved to have been at the other side of the world but to be fair this part of the world ain’t half bad 😉.
2020 a year to smell the roses. 